The shot heard ‘round the world
Todd Shelton | 6/30/2004 Members of the Kappa Alpha fraternity tried to load an antique cannon on their front lawn with fireworks. . .What do the following news sources, along with many, many, more, all have in common: USA Today, San Diego Union Tribune, Melbourne Herald Sun (Australia), Columbia Daily Tribune (Missouri), Seattle Post Intelligencer, Guardian Unlimited (United Kingdom) Miami Herald, Atlanta Journal Constitution, New York Newday?
A quick Google(TM) search brings up an article carried by all these sources about an incident involving a celebration, a cannon, some Chinese scholars and a moment of poor judgement at a Kappa Alpha chapter in Missouri.
A brief summary of the incident, as reported by the Associated Press:
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Members of the Kappa Alpha fraternity tried to load an antique cannon on their front lawn with fireworks, but destroyed the cannon and blew out the window of an second floor apartment across the street. An 8-inch portion of the cannon, which legend says dates to the Civil War, crashed through the roof of the apartment building, tearing through the fifth floor before landing on a pingpong table in the lounge on the fourth floor. The explosion also left some debris imbedded in the building’s brick exterior. No one was hurt.
Two members of the fraternity at the University of Missouri-Columbia were arrested. The national Kappa Alpha fraternity said Missouri’s chapter president and vice president were facing charges.
Columbia Police Capt. Zim Schwartze said they were investigating a third person for his possible involvement in the incident.
Elaine Pohl, a teacher at Missouri, said she and a visiting scholars from China had been playing a game of pingpong about 8 p.m. in a fourth floor lounge of University Place apartments, located across the street from the fraternity, when they heard two loud explosions. She said she then noticed a 12-inch hole in the ceiling, and a piece of metal on the pingpong table.
“It came down into the net like it would’ve sliced the table in two, though it didn’t break the table,” she said.
About a dozen people were in the room at the time, she said. Fortunately, no person was injured in this incident. However, there was an injury, the good name of Kappa Alpha Order.
While chapters across the country worked hard all semester raising thousands of dollars and donating hundreds of hours of time for MDA and other charities, the only news about Kappa Alpha that many people heard was about some guys causing harm by blowing up a cannon.
Had the KA Laws and risk management policy been followed, the annual celebration at the University of Missouri would have been just that, a celebration. But because a few people, including the top officers chose not to follow the rules, the event became an international “Animal House-like” example of fraternities.
“This is a regrettable incident that could have resulted in death or serious injury,” said Larry Wiese, executive director. “It is more regrettable since it could have been avoided with stricter adherence to the Order’s bylaws and risk management policy.”
“It is our goal that this chapter and others learn from this incident, and with hope, we can avoid any similar incidents in the future.”
As a result of this incident, the Number I and Number II have been removed from office. The chapter is on social probation through the next school year. The chapter must pay all expenses related to the property damage and conduct seminars at NLI and for fraternities and sororities at the University of Missouri related to risk management.
The three chapter members involved have been charged by local law enforcement with reckless exploding and third-degree assault, both class A misdemeanors punishable by one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
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